This invention relates to an improved end cap for a garment hanger caddy, and in particular to an end cap which provides an improved frictional engagement with the tube of the hanger caddy and which decreases the amount of sheared material that may collect around the end cap after assembly of the end cap into the tube.
Simmerman U.S. Pat. No. 4,887,727, Cameron U.S. Pat. No. 3,868,906 and Cameron U.S. Pat. No. 4,340,145 (all assigned to the assignee of the present invention) disclose three prior art garment hanger caddies. These hanger caddies are used to organize and retain garment hangers for storage and shipment. They have met with considerable commercial success, and have found acceptance in a variety of businesses.
Hanger caddies of the type described in the Simmerman and Cameron patents include a tube, a relatively stiff retainer strip that is substantially coextensive with the tube, and a pair of latching members. In the Simmerman patent, the latching members slide in openings formed in a pair of end caps which fit into respective ends of the tube. The end caps are held in the tube by a press fit.
Commercially suitable tubes may vary in internal diameter, primarily due to variations in the wall thickness of the tube. In the past, it has been important to maintain the internal diameter of the tube (and therefore the wall thickness) within a relatively narrow range in order to ensure that the end cap is properly held in place in the tube. In general, the cost of a tube will often decrease when tolerances for dimensional specifications are loosened. It would therefore be advantageous to have an improved end cap that holds properly within the tube even though the internal diameter of the tube is allowed to vary more widely.
During assembly the end caps are press fit into the tube, and there is a tendency for protruding edges of the end cap to be sheared off by the end of the tube. In the past, such sheared off material has often remained attached to the end cap for removal in a subsequent cleaning operation. It would be advantageous if such subsequent cleaning operations could be eliminated to reduce the cost of manufacture of the finished garment hanger caddy.